John Cleese Is Ill

Must have been a whopper of an illness to prevent the advertised m.c. of tonights gala from showing. When one of the festival organizers stepped onto the stage to announce that Cleese was too sick to perform, everyone initially suspected this to be a ruse or a joke lead in intro.. but no, it was actually true and it was a festival first to boot. The stand-in host did his best but for us, the bloom was off the rose. We watched countless comics but were amused by only a few. I thought this was due to the initial sense of 'let down' or disappointment, but as I look back on this gala, it becomes clear that it was due to a general lack of great comedy.